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Has anyone noticed a change in Diamond feeds? I dont know what is going on, but my hounds suddenly dont seem to be doing so well on it. I switched to Diamond Hi-Energy 24/20 about a year ago and have been very pleased with it up to now. The last 2 bags I have fed, I have noticed my hounds dont look as good as they did. I have one male in particular that I cannot seem to keep any weight on and the rest are starting to look a little thin also. I like a lean, mean, running machine dog but not ribs and skin I have increased the amount of food they get each day but it just seems to be passing through and no fat being put on the dogs, pooping the kennels full too. With the increase in the amount of food, I expected a little more poop in the kennels but not this much. My hounds are all on a stringent worming regiment and not too long ago they were all given a clean bill of health from the vet, making me believe the Diamond is not as good as it once was...maybe something changed? I've fed the Diamond green and yellow before and did not care that much for it, or I should say my hounds didnt care that much for it...their coats got rough and they didnt seem to have the bottom end they had on Pride 26/18, so I'm not interested in trying other Diamond types. I'm about ready to go back to Pride feed.
Pride is coming out with a new feed, I think it's a 24/20. They've had it out awhile in a plain white bag being tested by some kennels. It all seems to have proved out well, not sure on the price. They said they may have another $1.00 off per bag of the 26/18 in Jan. or Feb. ...Patch
darrin - have you used 24/20 for awhile? i ask that because i most always used 26/18 and for awhile couldnt get it so i switched to 24/20 for about a month and my dogs also lost weight...a fair amout. switched back and all was fine. i think its something to do with that % of food. i thought i remember bev having a similar experience. ask her.
I switched to the Diamond also and can see no difference in the poop in the kennels from my previous brand, nor can I see any difference in anything else about them. I'm feeding the Diamond maintenance and the dogs gobble it up. I swithched from a 26% protein feed back around the first of the year after I had to put my good 7 year old male down due to liver problems. I've seen what impact high protein feeds have on the internal organs of cattle at the slaughter house and am now a firm beliver that these high protein dog feeds is the culprit of all these liver problems were are seeing and hearing about in hounds. I'm no canine nutritionist but I've come to the conclusion that a good quality dog feed no more than 24% protein and 12% fat should be adequate to properly sustain a beagle regardless of weather and or physical activity. I've got 3 dogs on the same amounts of the Diamond Maintence which is 22% protein and 2 look great and one looks thin. They all have plenty of energy and they all 3 poop the kennel full. I am now looking to find another feed to try that is no more than 24% protein and around 12% fat.
Funny you should mention this weight loss Darrin. I had to buy some hi-energy as I ran out of the Pride and couldn't make the drive to IN to get more. Same thing happened here, dry coats, visable loss of weight and the stool issue.
I CAN tell all for sure that Diamond has broadend their distribution, its now available at Rural king in Charleston, and talking to the manager there, they are putting Diamond in plenty of stores.
The yellow bag never worked here, constant mushy stools. The green bag did do better on the stool end, but I never liked the weight condition on my dogs.
Im waiting to see if the newly opened feed store likes the Pride and will carry some. I would like to try out the new Pride 24/20 myself.
"People may not remember exactly what you said or did, but they will remember how you made them feel"
Asti, I've contacted Pride to see where the closest dealer is from me as I am about 25 miles south of Terre Haute. He said that Rockville is the closest place for me to get it which is an hour and a half drive. I enquired as to what it would take to be a dealer in this area but have heard nothing yet. I see you've used the pride as well as some others on here and I'm curious as to the price as compaired to the Diamond. I'm in a search for something different and I don't want to have to feed over a 24% protein feed.
Brian, I've fed the Diamond 24/20 for about a year now. I really liked it until the last 2 bags. Makes me wonder if something has changed.....?? I will probably try 1 more bag and if my hounds keep looking puny, I'm switching back to Pride.
I have fed the 24/20 for a couple of years now and haven't had any problems with it. I just bought a new bag, I will see what happens with it and comment if I see any change. I can get Black Gold for a little more money and just about the same distance drive... I stayed with Diamond because it doesn't burn up my grass where the dogs urinate. I don't know if Black Gold would be so gentle on my lawn or not.....
Emery
Be ye kind one unto another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32
I posted this very topic a couple of years ago. It may even be in the archives here.
I knew I wasn't imagining things. Darrin, about 2 years ago I was on the Diamond Hi-Energy bandwagon (purple bag) 24/20. The dogs did pretty well on it and kept off the extra pounds in the slower summer months. Everyone looked good. It took about 9 months of feeding it before I noticed not only had they lost any extra weight, they were continuing to lose weight. Even the retired, inactive dogs. I figured any time you have to increase your food to double to keep weight on a beagle, something's wrong. I found the 24/20 cause a very slow but continual weight loss, it takes about 8 or nine months to notice it.
We switched back to Diamond 26/18 and everyone's just skippy here. I don't think it's the Diamond - I think it's just that particular formula. The 24/20 Hi Energy was originally developed for sled dogs. They get fed larger amounts and the extra fat makes a difference for them. This is strictly my opinion - no scientific proof here whatsoever, but I think the increased fat to protein ratio boosts resting metabolism in our beagles, and their burn rate stays higher. Not noticeable at first, but after a few months it is.
Extra fat in a human's diet would produce opposite results, of course, lol.
Ialso feed pride 26/18 and love it better than diamond.I get the pride for 14.00 a 50lb bag and thats 4.25 cheaper than diamond plus i think my dogs due better on it.
Like I said above, my hounds have done very well on the Diamond 24/20 for almost a year now, but I'm now noticing sumthin aint right....
Our firearms deer season is in full swing and I dont dare put my hounds on the ground when the gun deer season is in here. It's been in for the last 2 weeks and have this week to go, so my hounds have been basically laid up for the last 2 weeks and still have this week to stay in the kennels or yard before we can head back to the woods ourselves. My entire backyard is fenced w/ chain-link so everyday when I clean kennels, etc, the dogs get out to run and play some, but that still aint the same as running time on rabbits as far as staying in shape. Even for the last 2 weeks being laid up and feed amounts being increased, I've noticed no noticeable weight gain on any of the hounds but 1. As a matter of fact one male seems to be getting a tiny bit thinner if anything.
wardog,
I was getting the 26/18 pride for 13.85 / 14.00 per 50lbs, "retail" can be as much as 15.99 in some cases. Since I purchased at the feed mill there I had to give the gov'nr a few cents, but overall the pride is roughly 3 to 4 dollars cheaper than the diamond, at rural king, has 26/18 diamond for 16.99.
As for dealer or distributor, the more bags purchased, the lower the price the base I THINK is 13.00 a bag for the ton, but dont quote me on that! The dealer has to be able to maintain a solid purchase quanity, on a regular basis, which is why I first started the Pride posts I made looking for interested parties to buy into a load together on a repeat basis.
"People may not remember exactly what you said or did, but they will remember how you made them feel"
My cousin and I are both looking for something different to feed but you are probably as far for us as Rockville is. Heck I'm paying 13.99 + tax for the maintenance Diamond that's not worth a dime. I'd sure like to try it for a couple of months.
I feed the 26/18 Diamond. The last couple bag I feed I thought the dogs were pooping more and more of it. They haven't been run in a couple weeks because of deer season being in and it seems like there a lot of dead hair to be run off. Going to see if this pooping thing gets better.
I have increased the amount of food they get each day but it just seems to be passing through and no fat being put on the dogs, pooping the kennels full too. With the increase in the amount of food, I expected a little more poop in the kennels but not this much. My hounds are all on a stringent worming regiment and not too long ago they were all given a clean bill of health from the vet, making me believe the Diamond is not as good as it once was...maybe something changed? I've fed the Diamond green and yellow before and did not care that much for it, or I should say my hounds didnt care that much for it...their coats got rough and they didnt seem to have the bottom end they had on Pride 26/18, so I'm not interested in trying other Diamond types. I'm about ready to go back to Pride feed. 
...Patch
